No longer do I call you servants, . . . but I have called you friends.
John 15:15
Socrates once asked a simple old man what he was most thankful for. The man replied,
"That being such as I am, I have had the friends I have had."
Some "friends" are fickle. In the book of Proverbs we read, "Wealth makes
many friends, but the poor is separated from his friend" (19:4). A true friend,
however, "loves at all times" (17:17) and "sticks closer than a
brother" (18:24).
Our English word friend comes from the same root as the word freedom. A genuine friend
sets us free to be who and what we are. We can pour out our doubts and talk freely about
the wolves howling at the door of our life.
A faithful friend also affirms our worth. Queen Victoria said of William Gladstone,
"When I am with him, I feel I am with one of the most important leaders in the
world." But of Benjamin Disraeli she said, "He makes me feel as if I am one of
the most important leaders of the world."
Christians have an inside track on making and being friends because we are part of one
family. Haven't you felt that family tie while talking with a strangeronly to
discover that you had Christ in common? And no wonderHe is the truest Friend anyone
can have.
-HWR
A friend accepts us as we are
Yet helps us be what we can be;
A friend affirms us when we're weak
A friend gives strength to set us free.
-DJD
Our best friends draw us closer to Christ.